藝術評論》Jeff Koons 是調皮胡鬧？還是富有意涵？

一隻氣球狗、一顆閃亮的紅色心型巧克力糖，以及圖畫書《小熊維尼》（Winnie the Pooh）裡「小豬」（Piglet）的剪影。這三個由不鏽鋼製成且具有光亮表面的作品，都是普普藝術家Jeff Koons先前從未展示過的創作，現在正在美國大都會博物館（Metropolitan Museum of Art）的屋頂花園（Cantor Roof Garden）中展出。攝影：Librado Romero

原文／A Panoramic Backdrop for Meaning and Mischief

作者／Ken Johnson (2008/4/22)
編譯／Fango Huang (2008/11/2)

令人驚艷的中央公園（Central Park）全景，以及曼哈頓（Manhattan）美麗的天際，美國大都會博物館（Metropolitan Museum of Art）的屋頂花園（Cantor Roof Garden），也許是一個可以打動你的絕佳景點，在這裡每年都會固定週期性地展出戶外雕塑。但是這個地方對於雕塑品來說其實是一個頗為荒涼（inhospitable）的展覽地點，這可以從這週二開始展出的2008年度展覽來證明之：知名普普藝術家Jeff Koons先前從未展出過的三件精彩創作。這三件作品每一件都是被刻意放大、具有亮漆表面，並且由不鏽鋼打製而成的巨大雕塑，用來表現某些原本很小巧的東西：例如用氣球綑綁而成的玩具狗；像芭蕾舞鞋一樣掂腳矗立著，用紅色鋁箔紙包裝的情人節心型巧克力糖；以及如同小孩隨意著色般，圖畫書《小熊維尼》（Winnie the Pooh）裡「小豬」（Piglet）角色的剪影。

這些都是帶點頑皮戲弄的意味，但卻又不失其深層意涵的藝術作品。《氣球狗》（Balloon Dog）是一隻充滿空氣、有如臘腸組成的淘氣版特洛伊木馬（Trojan Horse）：雖然牠看似天真無邪，但牠卻同時承載了藝術的審美與情色的乖僻。《秘密之心》（Sacred Heart）尖酸地批判著商業貶低了我們的情感與真誠的經驗。《圖畫書》（Coloring Book）則反映了現代社會與文化下青少年癡迷的「幼稚症」（youth-obsessed infantilism）。

這些作品擺置在建築上難以歸類的露臺上，但那個地方同樣也屬於屋頂花園咖啡（Roof Garden Cafe）讓顧客們蔭蔽區域的一部分，所以這些雕塑品很容易就會被視為是溫和的、具裝飾性的附屬品。

Jeff Koons，《氣球狗》（Balloon Dog）

而最大的問題是比例的大小。若在室內藝廊觀看《氣球狗》（Balloon Dog）這件巨大、閃耀著金屬光芒的作品，它立起來的最高處高達10英呎，將會產生一種怪異的巨大感，眼前也有些微的脅迫感；但是放在屋頂上，廣闊的天空以及博物館由南至西的敞開空間，相較之下，便讓這件作品顯得矮小許多。

也因此，Jeff Koons雕塑的親暱性被削弱了。著重於細節表現的完美主義，正是他作品最令人懾服的一面：注意那形狀十分嚴謹的蝴蝶結、氣球狗的鼻子，或者有交疊與摺痕之處，以及心型包裝上那繃張的商標。縱使再小心翼翼地、深思熟慮地觀看，戶外的環境仍然是會使人分心。

Jeff Koons，《秘密之心》（Sacred Heart）

18½英呎高的《圖畫書》（Coloring Book），這個最為巨大又最為單純的作品，雖然它是所有作品中最不受環境所干擾的，但它卻是在形式上最為無趣的一個，其不規則的輪廓、平板顏色又淡又薄，只能說是比「平面」（flat）還好了一些。

Jeff Koons，《圖畫書》（Coloring Book）

撇開它們所安置的環境不談，這次Jeff Koons展出的雕塑品仍然保有其一貫的風格，讓人在知識與感官層面都能夠感到興奮──最傑出的作品《氣球狗》（Balloon Dog）──不管在放任何環境下都是值得觀賞的。

延伸閱讀：

- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Jeff Koons Official Web Site
- Interview With Jeff Koons (Journal of Contemporary Art)
- Jeff Koons's Biography (Gagosian Gallery)

Art Review | A Panoramic Backdrop for Meaning and Mischief

A balloon dog. A chocolate heart wrapped in shiny red. A silhouette of Piglet from a “Winnie the Pooh” coloring book. These are the subjects of three glossily lacquered, stainless steel works — all previously unexhibited — by the Pop artist Jeff Koons now on view in the Cantor Roof Garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo: Librado Romero

From: The New York Times
Author: Ken Johnson
Published: April 22, 2008

With its breathtaking, panoramic views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline, the Cantor Roof Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art may strike you as an excellent place to mount a seasonal outdoor sculpture show, which it does every year. In truth, it is an inhospitable site for sculpture, as demonstrated by the 2008 display that opens on Tuesday: three wonderful, previously unexhibited works by the celebrated Pop artist Jeff Koons. Each of these sculptures is a greatly enlarged, glossily lacquered, stainless-steel representation of something small: a toy dog made of twisted-together balloons; a chocolate valentine heart wrapped in red foil, standing en pointe; and a silhouette of Piglet from a “Winnie the Pooh” coloring book, randomly colored as if by a small child.

They are mischievously meaningful works. With its pneumatic, sausagelike parts, “Balloon Dog (Yellow)” is a sly Trojan Horse: it seems innocent but is loaded with aesthetic and erotic perversity. “Sacred Heart (Red/Gold)” acidly comments on the commercial debasement of emotional and religious experience. “Coloring Book” reflects the youth-obsessed infantilism of modern culture and society.

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog.

But placed on the architecturally nondescript patio, where there are also shaded areas for patrons of the Roof Garden Cafe, the sculptures too easily turn into benign, decorative accessories.

The biggest problem is scale. Seen in an indoor gallery, the elephantine, shiny metallic “Balloon Dog (Yellow),” which rises to 10 feet at its highest point, would have a weirdly imposing, slightly menacing presence. On the roof it appears dwarfed by the vast sky and by the open expanses of space to the south and west of the museum.

The intimacy of Mr. Koons’s sculpture is also diminished. Perfectionist attention to detail is one of his work’s most compelling aspects: note the exactingly formed knot that serves as the balloon dog’s nose, or the folds, pleats and stretch marks in the heart’s wrapper. The distracting outdoor environment, though, discourages careful, contemplative looking.

Jeff Koons, Sacred Heart.

Because it is both the biggest and the simplest, the 18 ½-foot-tall “Coloring Book” is the least undermined by its environment. But it is also the least interesting formally, being little more than a flat, irregularly contoured slab whose colors are thin and watery.

Jeff Koons, Coloring Book.

Their setting aside, Mr. Koons’s sculptures remain intellectually and sensuously exciting — “Balloon Dog” is a masterpiece — and they are worth visiting under any circumstances.


Related Links:
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Jeff Koons Official Web Site
- Interview With Jeff Koons (Journal of Contemporary Art)
- Jeff Koons's Biography (Gagosian Gallery)